The Words You Say

The old adage goes "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." However, the power of words is far greater and longer lasting than any physical action. Words have the distinct ability to wound people the deepest and cause the most fear, doubt, and vulnerability. Oftentimes people do not take care with the words that they say, but rather allow anything to fly out of their mouth at a moments notice without regards to the person with whom they are speaking.  Then with that very same breath, people offer pleasantries to others.  It does not make sense.

The terrifying thing about words is not just the ability they have to wound, but also that those wounds and the scars that form from them are invisible. They cannot be seen by others and yet the torment and the pain is still there and still real to the bearer.  We should have more care with our words. It is from our words that we will be known and remembered. In one moment, with one outburst, you can ruin a relationship or friendship whether you have known the person for five seconds or fifty years.

James 3:10 says, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be."  And yet, all too often it is exactly where we find ourselves. In one moment producing words of praise and in the very next laying stripes in a persons back with our words as if using a whip. There is hope for us yet, in that just as there is power to wound in the terrible phrases used against people, there is also power to encourage, support, uplift, and proffer bravery through words.

Personally, I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when a couple of people that I have not known long spoke volumes of encouragement into my life over a few short nights.  Encouraging words have the power to not only to speak life but also to erase the pain caused by past words of destruction.  By simply giving time, listening, and yielding to God's prompting, they spoke healing directly to wounds that I know are there but are invisible to everyone surrounding me.

We all have this same great potential to radically alter the lives of people around us simply with the words we speak out.  In naught but a moment we can push someone to the breaking point or pull them down off of the ledge. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." This is a direct command to speak hope and life, not to judge or condemn or destroy others with the words that are spoken.

Words have power to affect thinking, actions, hopes, dreams, lives, and futures. I think back to words that I've spoken to people in moments of hardship or anger and every time as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I wished that there was a way to pull them back. I have wounded people, people I love and others that I have barely known. In the same regards, I have been wounded by those who have barely known me and those who have loved me. I believe that at one point or another every person has been wounded by words and we cannot change that past. There is still hope for the future. The words spoken in those moments yet to come do not have to destroy, but rather can breathe life into people.

Just as I can remember the pain caused by others words and my own, I remember to hope spoken into my life and that I have spoken into others. Just today, I had a conversation with a young lady who served at and attended camps this summer and was able to offer a few words of hope and encourage her to persevere through her present circumstances. I hope for more and more of these conversations every single day.  Just to be clear, I am not perfect nor will I ever be, not in action or in word. But I strive to daily speak more life and hope into people than negativity or despair. I wonder what would happen if we all did so --- if instead of allowing whatever words come to mind to flow out of our mouths regardless of the consequence, we were intentional with both the words that we speak and to whom they are spoken.

With the power I have been given, I choose to speak hope, to speak life, to speak power, to speak courage, and to speak love. You have a choice as well, just remember that in your words, you hold the power to forever impact others.